Creating Worlds

So, as promised, I'm talking today about creating worlds for your books to be set in. Some people create large, extensive worlds for their books, such as L Frank Baum's creation, Oz. This works for some people, no for others.

Then there are people who set it in a fictional place but all they do is give it a name and if a certain part of that place is needed for the book, they can just make it up as they go along, basically. This also works for some people.

As for me, I have it extensively planned out. Not to the point that I have a map of the place (although, I'm tried) but I do have all the information thought out in my head. I have it thought out as detailed as who the mayor of the city is, the school, the magazines, the celebrities and all kinds of things. A lot of this does come into the story at some point or another, but a lot of it doesn't, too.

You'll see worlds like this planned out more in fantasy that any other genre, I think, but it works for others too. I think a lot of my inspiration for the world I've built has come from The Simpsons, which is certainly not a fantasy show. But it is a comedy, and so is Meowsie.

I'll be sure to tell you more about the world I've created once I get more of the series written down, but for now, that's all I can competently explain.

Have you got a fictional world you've built, on paper or in your head? Feel free to comment and share.

Naming Characters

My (limited) experience has shown me that if you write a lot and have a lot of characters, you're eventually gonna meet someone with the same name as one of your characters.

I have a lot of trouble with names. I find the ones that you think up on the spot without putting any thought into it work the best. They're probably quite common and boring but once you get used to them, they just work.

I find that over thinking and trying to come up with a name is just a waste of energy. Still, that doesn't stop me from doing it. I could spend hours thinking up names and never manage to get one!

Anyway, back to the point. The other day I was looking at an old plan for a screenplay i was thinking of writing and there were only four characters and one of them has the same name as a friend of mine. Of course, I didn't know the friend when I chose the names. This, luckily, doesn't really matter as I don't intend to write that script anymore.

But in Meowsie I have a character called Stacy. She's a minor character, but quite an important one. But since naming her I have become friends with a girl called Stacey. And now I'm so used to writing her name that I keep spelling my character's name Stacey rather than Stacy. Only a minor problem, but that's not the point.

Anyway this post is getting a little long and is a bit scattered and nonsensical, so I'll cut the final part short.

Meowsie has lots of characters. I've had to write a list of them all just so I don't forget their names, which has happened before. There are five main characters (three of which are main-main characters (is there a word for that?)), about four secondary characters, lots of tertiary characters and a good handful of villains. So it gets a bit confusing sometimes.

That's what you get, though, when you develop a whole world for your books. I'll touch on this in a later post, but for now, see ya.

Progress, Progress

So, I've been trying the daily goal plan for two days now and I'm doing pretty well. It took me about two and a half hours the first day but I got just over 1,000 words. The second day took less time, but I still managed it.

I'm now on the third day and I haven't started writing yet. I've decided to do it in the evening instead today. I should probably write in the mornings and stick to that but I'm really not a morning person. And I mean really, really.

One problem I've found, though, is that it's moving along really fast, which isn't a bad thing, but it means it will probably be very short. Which means I'll have to pad it up with some random bits which probably won't be all that interesting.

I don't know how much of a problem it is until the first draft is done, though, so I'll have to wait and see.

Sub-plots and Word-counts

So I'm a little bit stuck on a subplot. I have zero ideas. But I need one. Mainly to pad out the novel and make it that bit longer, as not much happens in the A story, so I need a B story.

My previous two drafts of the first novel (which vary GREATLY from the next one I'm about to write), both clocked in at about 25k, which isn't many words. Although one was written when I was very young, and the other was rushed.

This then brings me to the next concern: how many words should I write?

Most people classify a novel as having 50k words or more, but most novels are much longer than that. Young Adult or Children's novels, however, will have less words than an adult's novel and I think Meowsie falls into the former. So I'm just gonna have to write and see how many words I get, then I can pad it out or cut it down when I rewrite.

Also, interestingly, Marienbad My Love is claimed by it's author, Mark Leach, to be the longest novel ever at 17,000,000 words. He also claims it contains the longest English sentence (with 3 million words). It was released online in 2008.

All I can say is whoa mama.

Openings

This is a problem I've recently run in to. And I'm sure it's a problem for many writers, too.

The opening of your novel.

So, you know what's going to happen. You know what the complication is, you know who the bad guy is, and you know how the whole thing is gonna be resolved. And then your mind turns to the opening. And the anvil drops right on your head.

Do you introduce your characters? Do you jump right into the whole thing starting?

I decided to start by introducing the three main characters, one in each chapter, as they go about the beginning of a normal day of their lives. I'll make this interesting by adding an amusing comedy scene, and once all this is out of the way I can jump to the part where the day takes a turn for the worst.

And the best part, even if the opening comes out terrible, I can forget about it and worry about the rest of the novel. I'll worry about the opening again when I start to rewrite.

And that's probably true for most authors. So don't fret. Hm. Fret. That's a funny word.

So, What is Meowsie?

Meowsie is the series of novels I plan to write. It's a rather cliched idea: three siblings find out they have powers over the elements and fight a bad guy. The twist? They're dogs. In fact, almost every character is a dog. The whole thing is set in a civilized world of anthropomorphic dogs.

Sound weird? You bet. It's a comedy/fantasy and it's quite quirky. It doesn't take itself too seriously, which helps when it has such a ridiculous storyline.

And that's about it for now. I'll tell you more as I write.